Exploring the Social Media on the Communication Professionals in Public Health. Spanish Official Medical Colleges Case Study

Carlos de las Heras-Pedrosa, Dolores Rando-Cueto, Carmen Jambrino-Maldonado and Francisco J. Paniagua-Rojano
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Carlos de las Heras-Pedrosa: Department of Advertising and Public Relations, Universidad de Málaga 29071 Málaga, Spain
Dolores Rando-Cueto: Department of Advertising and Public Relations, Universidad de Málaga 29071 Málaga, Spain
Carmen Jambrino-Maldonado: Department of Economics and Business Administration, Universidad de Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain
Francisco J. Paniagua-Rojano: Department of Advertising and Public Relations, Universidad de Málaga 29071 Málaga, Spain

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 13, 1-17

Abstract: The purpose of the study is to analyze the role that social media have on the practice of health professionals working in information and communication department of Spanish official medical college. Social media in health fields have experienced growing participation of users and are increasingly considered a credible form of communication. This paper examines the use of social media as communication tool by the Official Medical Colleges (OMC) of Spain. According to the National Institute of Statistics, in 2019 there were 267,995 registered medical professionals in the 52 OMC in Spain. This research is based on a qualitative methodological technique through semi-structured interviews, with the aim of identifying the profiles of the people who lead the information in the professional organizations of the OMC. Of the colleges, 73.07% participated. The findings show that information is essential for the OMC and most of them have at least one experienced communication professional. Social media are essential tool in their work and Twitter (87.5%) and Facebook (81.3%) are considered the most relevant social media according to their interests. These tools are believed to be very useful for informing, establishing relationships and listening to users.

Keywords: health communication; social media; public health; Spanish official medical colleges; stakeholders (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:13:p:4859-:d:380882

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